PERSONAL INJURY BLOG

According to an investigation by the Associated Press, many of the bus accidents that have occurred recently in California and other states can be traced to a lack of oversight over the companies that perform inspections of these fleets.

According to regulations by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, all commercial vehicles like trucks and buses must be inspected regularly. However, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration gives these companies a number of choices for them to get their inspections conducted. Inspections can be conducted by state safety agencies, or even private garages. Many companies get their inspections conducted by private companies that inspect these vehicles for a fee.

In a situation like this, Los Angeles bus accident lawyers find that there's no regulation over the kind of companies that perform these inspections. More than 50% of states have no inspection requirements, and motor coach carriers have the discretion to make decisions about inspections themselves. There is also no requirement that private garages be subjected to oversight. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says that its hands are tied. The agency does not have the resources to oversee private commercial vehicle inspection companies.

Investigations by the National Transportation Safety Board have found that inadequate inspections may have been one of the causes of a deadly Texas bus accident in 2009 that killed 17 people and injured dozens of others. The bus in that case had been inspected by a local bus inspection company, but the inspection had been incomplete. The inspection company gave a clean chit to the bus, even though the bus had defects. Barely a week after the inspection, the bus suffered a blown-out tire, and flipped over. Investigations later found that the bus company also had a long record of safety violations.

The Missouri police officer and the bar she drank at have agreed to a settlement of $2.25 million to be paid to the families of four young people killed in a traffic crash last year. Three of the victims were Eastern Illinois University students.

The wrongful death suit was brought by the survivor of the crash and the dead victims' families. The suit held that officer Christine L. Miller drank a large quantity of alcohol while off duty on the night of the accident, specifically at O'Leary's Restaurant and Bar. She then drove her car into oncoming traffic while intoxicated.

Files from the St. Louis County Circuit Court indicate that the families each will receive $331,375 as part of the settlement. $750,000 will go to the plaintiffs' attorneys, with the remaining $180,000 going to survivor Nitesh Adusumilli and his lawyer, as well as court fees. The exact details of Adusumilli's settlement were not released.

The primary accusation against Officer Miller was negligence due to drunk driving and driving on the wrong side of the road. Her BAC was .169 three hours after the crash, which is more than twice the legal limit for the area.

The suit was filed six days after criminal charges were filed against the officer. She has been charged with four counts of first degree involuntary manslaughter, and one count of second-degree assault. The crash happened at 1:45 a.m. March 21, 2009. Miller drove her car eastbound into the westbound lanes, colliding with the victims' Honda.

Those killed in the wreck were Satya Subhakar Chinta, Anusha Anumolu, Anita Lakshmi Veerapaneni, and Priya Muppayarapu. The last three were graduate students at EUI, and all four passengers were originally from India, having come to work and study in the United States.

The sole survivor of the crash suffered extensive injuries, including head trauma. However, he was eventually able to return to work. It is unknown if a date has been set in the criminal trial for the officer.

A Washington resident has filed a series of government claims against several California entities he believes are responsible for his son’s wrongful death in a train accident last year.

64-year-old Charles Isaacson was driving his 1998 Honda on Sept. 15 when he attempted, with the rest of the right-of-way traffic, to cross a section of Caltrain railroad tracks. The cars in front of him stopped to yield for an oncoming fire engine, and the train gates came down, trapping Isaacson. A few moments later, Isaacson’s car was struck by an oncoming train. He was killed in the impact.

According to reports, the train had been traveling at approximately 60 miles per hour at the time of impact. From the time Charles became stuck on the tracks to the impact, there was no way the train could have stopped given the speed it was traveling, the reports say, going on to add that the moment the gates came down, the situation was irrecoverable.

Donald Isaacson, Charles’ father, has filed a number of claims related to the accident. In particular, he has alleged that improper track design was a contributing factor. He argues that the specific setup of the tracks in that location contributed to his son’s death by forming a “trap” that couldn't be escaped, and was therefore unsafe to begin with.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors rejected one of Donald’s claims, which is merely the first step in what is sure to be a long legal process. If the other agencies named in Isaacson’s claims make similar rejections, the ground has been laid for a lawsuit to be filed at a future date.

The groups named in the claims include Caltrain, San Mateo County, SamTrans, Redwood City and the engineer of the train that struck Charles’ car. The claims against the city and county were filed because it is possible that they had a hand in designing and maintaining the lights and signals at the crossing. Isaacson’s claims are for unlimited compensation to account for the loss of his son’s financial support.

A $1.775 million settlement was awarded to the woman whose eight-year-old child was killed by a driver treated at a methadone clinic in Vermont.

Erin Lackey and her daughter, Kayla, were driving together when Stephen Fairchild crossed the centerline of the highway. He struck their vehicle causing such damage that in order for Erin to be removed from her car, rescue workers had to use the jaws of life. Kayla was killed on impact, and Fairchild was also pronounced dead at the scene by first responders.

Lackey filed her wrongful death lawsuit against the methadone clinic that treated Fairchild, Community Health Care Inc., a for-profit institution with several treatment centers.

The case revolved around interpretations of a clinic's duty to monitor and coordinate its patients' care and treatments. Central to the argument that the clinic was responsible for the fatal crash was the fact that Fairchild had several methadone clinic drugs in his system at the time of the collision. The drugs include methadone, Klonopin, and trazodone. Each of these drugs has a sedative effect on the central nervous system, and Klonopin can drastically affect visual perception. Either of these factors poses a danger in the operation of a motor vehicle, and combined they are outright deadly.

The clinic contested the suit, claiming that it was most likely Fairchild's own lack of attention or some mechanical defect that caused the accident. The levels of the drugs in his system, combined with the fact that a previous employer had observed Fairchild's poor performance while on the same drugs, defeated this argument.

Many of the drugs used by methadone clinics are part of newer treatments, the effects of which are not fully documented or understood. This case, which is the largest single judgment or wrongful death settlement against a methadone clinic, is sure to set a benchmark in future matters and cases pertaining to the subject.

Marc Gauthier of Salem, Massachusetts, has filed a wrongful death suit against his daughter's boyfriend and the boy's mother. Christopher Maxson was driving his mother's SUV while intoxicated and lost control of the vehicle while speeding. After driving past a stop sign, he collided with parked cars and rolled the SUV, which ejected Julia Gauthier through the sunroof, killing her instantly.

The lawsuit accuses both Maxson and his mother, Margaret, of negligence leading to Julia's death. Christopher is named because of his reckless driving and intoxication, while Margaret was included for negligently entrusting the vehicle to her son. It is unclear if the lawsuit was filed to include Maxson’s mother because Gauthier believes she knew her son was drunk and let him drive anyway, or filed simply under the umbrella of general responsibility.

The wrongful death case is being filed concurrently with the criminal trial that Christopher faces for the drunk driving charges. Gauthier had the suit filed immediately following his daughter's funeral in the hopes of preserving critical evidence that may be present in the SUV itself due to the fact that as more time passes following any incident, the less likely evidence is to be properly preserved.

For his part, Christopher has pled not guilty to the charges against him in the criminal case. These charges include motor vehicle homicide while driving drunk and recklessly, drunken driving, driving to endanger, and failing to stop.

The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for Thursday, April 8. Gauthier's attorney, Eric Finamore, will be present to explain the rationale behind the effort to preserve evidence from the SUV. The Maxson's lawyer will have the opportunity to oppose the measure, though it isn't likely he will do so. As of this time, it is unknown if the Maxsons were made aware that the civil suit had been filed.